There is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 a prior art connector 10, one mating half 12 of which has the conductors of a ribbon cable 14 terminated thereto and the other mating half 16 of Which is attached to a printed circuit board 18. As is seen in FIG. 2, the signal conductors 22 of the cable 14 are bent to the right and terminated to the terminals 24, the signal conductors 26 are bent to the left and terminated to the terminals 28, and the ground conductors 30 are terminated to the ground bus 32. The terminals 24 and 28 mate with the sockets 34 and 36 respectively which are disposed in the connector half 16 of the connector 10, the sockets being electrically connected to the traces of the printed circuit board 18. The ground bus 32 mates with a ground receptacle 38 which also is disposed in the connector half 16 and electrically connected to the ground circuit of the printed circuit board 18. As is best seen in FIG. 2, the ground bus 32 is made of a single sheet of metal folded over to form a double thickness. The two free edges form a V for receiving the ground conductors 30. During assembly, the tips of the V may be pressed toward each other into clenching engagement with the ground conductors 30 and solder flowed throughout the junction to assure good electrical contact. For a thorough description of the connector 10, its use, and method of manufacture, please refer to U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,787 which issued May 31, 1988 to Siwinski and which is incorporated by reference though set forth verbatim herein.
A serious problem may occur with the termination of the ground conductors 30 to the ground bus 32 of the connector 10. Since these terminations are effectively hidden between two solid pieces of metal, there is virtually no way to visually examine the site to determine the adequacy of the solder connection. Frequently, contamination is lodged within the V portion of the ground plane 32 during manufacturing which interferes with the subsequent soldering operation. Additionally, air pockets may form making it difficult or impossible to flow a sufficient amount of solder to effect a lasting low-resistance connection.
The present invention overcomes these problems by means of a novel ground bus termination and method of effecting it.